Improvement in banjos



H. C. DOBSUN. Banjus. N0,136,49}, PatentedMarch4 ,1873.

Wiinesses Inventor.

JL/M. JQZAW A 6 MW AM. PHOTO-UTIIDGIWNIC 0a m. (osumms's PRooEss) UNITED STATES PATENT Qrrron HENRY C. DOBSON, 'OF NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR 'IO HERMAN SON TAG, OF STAPLETON, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT lN BANJOS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 136,491, dated March 4, 1873.

To all whom it may concern: t

Be it known that I, HENRY C. DODSON, of the city of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Banjos; and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing which forms part of this specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in the means employed for stretching and holding the parchment head of a banjo over the trame or hoop; and the invention consists in the combination of a grooved clamp, a holding-ring, and a screw passing through an eye in the nut, and screwing down into an outwardly-projecting part of the frame or hoop, whereby a simple, durable, and easily-operated clamping device for holding and tightening the parchment head of a banjo is produced, and whereby the cost of manufacture is materially reduced.

In the accompz'inying drawing, Figure 1 is a plan or top view of a banjo provided with my improvement, and Fig. 2 is a vertical central section of the same.

A designates the frame or rim of the banjo, which, in the example illustrated in the drawing, is shown as composed of three rims, a b c, glued together in such manner that the rims b 0 shall form a shoulder or shoulders, g, 'n-ojecting outward from the periphery of the rim to. B is the parchment head of the banjo, and it is preferably provided around its edge with the usual wire (I. This head is stretched over the upper edge of the frame or rim, and a ring or hoop, G, slipped down so as to confine the parchment between it and the periphery of the rim or frame, the lower edge of the ring or hoop 0 bearing against the bead formed by the wire 61 so that the forcing of the ring or hoop U downward tightens the parchment head of the banjo, as is obvious by reference to Fig. 2. There is nothing new in the above-described arrangement of the parchmenthead, nor the wire d, nor the ring or hoop U. D designates a clamp, which is preferably made of metal, and provided with a recess or groove, e, (see Fig. 2,) of a width to receive within it the upper edge of the ring or hoop U; and the said clamp is also provided with a hole, f, bored through it. E is a screw, which is passed down through the holef in the clamp, its threaded end screwing into the shoulder or projecting part g of the frame.

Any necessary or desirable number of my improved clamping devices may be used, as will appear obvious by reference to Fi 1; and it will also be observed that the head of the banjo may be tightened or loosened by screwing down or unscrewing the screws E a very simple operation.

If it be preferred, a single hoop may take the place of the rims b c; or, indeed, a sufficiently deep rim may be employed and a shoulder formed upon it; or any requisite number of blocks may be secured around the periphery of the frame or rim, and serve the same purpose as the continuous shoulder g; or, in lieu of the blocks, metallic nuts similarly arranged may be employed; but I prefer the wood, because I save the expense of tapping the metal with the necessary screw-threads, while, in the case of wood, the screws may lee forced directly into the wood and be sufrlcient 1y secure for all practical purposes.

My above-described invention produces a simple, durable, and efficient clamping device for securing and tightening the head of a banjo, and by the use of which I materially decrease the cost of manufacture so that I am enabled to furnish to the market first-class banjos at a considerably lower price than heretofore.

\Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination of the grooved clamp D and screw E with the head B, ring or hoop U, and frame or rim of a banjo, the latter being provided with an outwardly-projecting shoulder or shoulders, g, substantially as and for the purposes herein specified.

HENltY (J, DOBSON.

Witnesses:

M. M. LIVINGSTON, T. B. Bnnon ER. 

